This
matter is before the Court on a Motion to Reconsider the
Court's Ruling on the Defendants' Motion for Leave to
File Amended Answer to Complaint, Counter-Claim, and Jury
Demand [DE 21 ], filed by Defendants on May 22, 2018.
Plaintiff filed an obj ection on June 5, 2018, and Defendants
filed a reply on June 12, 2018. On June 14, 2018, Plaintiff
filed a Sur-Response, without first seeking leave of court,
and on June 21, 2018, Defendants filed a Sur-Reply, also
without first seeking leave of court. On June 21, 2018,
Plaintiff filed a belated Motion for Leave to File
Sur-Response [DE 26].

PROCEDURAL
BACKGROUND

On
September 27, 2017, Plaintiff Keiona Harrison filed a
Complaint in the Allen County, Indiana, Superior Court. (ECF
3). Therein, Plaintiff alleges claims under 42 U.S.C. §
1983 for violations of her rights under the Fourth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution for
excessive force during an arrest that occurred on May 13,
2017, due process violations and racially profiling Plaintiff
prior to and during the arrest, deprivation and loss of
liberty, and excessive force/due process violations for
conducting a cavity search without cause or reason and
without a warrant. Plaintiff also alleges Indiana state law
claims of battery and sexual battery.

On
October 5, 2017, Defendants removed the case to this Court.
On October 10, 2017, Defendants filed an Answer. The Court
held a Rule 16(b) scheduling conference on November 8, 2017,
at which time a February 1, 2018 deadline was set for
Defendants to file any motion to amend pleadings.

On
April 30, 2018, Defendants filed a "Motion for Leave to
File Amended Answer to Complaint, Counter-Claim, and Jury
Demand," which sought to amend their Answer to add a
counterclaim for defamation and invasion of privacy brought
by the four individual officer defendants against Plaintiff.

On May
11, 2018, the Court denied Defendants' motion to amend,
finding that the motion was untimely as it was filed after
the February 1, 2018 deadline and that Defendants had not
shown good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)
for extending the February 1, 2018 deadline based on the
allegations in the proposed counterclaim.

ANALYSIS

In the
instant motion, Defendants ask the Court to reconsider its
May 11, 2018 ruling denying them leave to bring a
counterclaim against Plaintiff for defamation and invasion of
privacy.

The
relevant paragraphs of the proposed counterclaim, filed with
the Court as an attachment to the original Motion for Leave
to Amend, provide:

3. In the Complaint, Keiona Harrison made
defamatory statements against Detective Hollo,
Detective Nicklow, Officer Hawthorne, and Officer
McConnell. Keiona Harrison falsely stated that these
officers racially profiled Keiona Harrison; used excessive
force against Keiona Harrison; unlawfully searched Keiona
Harrison's purse; conducted a cavity search of Keiona
Harrison; that Officer McConnell put "her finger into
plaintiff s vagina" and committed a sexual battery; that
the officers failed to intervene to prevent these alleged
acts; and that the officers targeted Keiona Harrison because
of her race and color. Not only did Keiona Harrison
publish these false statements in Court, but they have
also been reported in several newspapers.

4. Further, Keiona Harrison made defamatory statements
against Detective Hollo and Officer McConnell in her
deposition. These statements include sworn testimony
that Detective Hollo slammed Keiona Harrison's chest and
body twice onto his police vehicle and that Officer McConnell
inserted her fingers twice into Keiona Harrison's vagina.
Keiona Harrison reported these same false statements
to Internal Affairs of the Fort Wayne Police Department.

5. Further, Keiona Harrison told her supervisors at the
Allen County Adult Probation Department that the officers
cavity searched her and slammed her against the police
vehicle.

6. The above defamatory statementspublishedby Keiona
Harrison are false and are not privileged. Keiona Harrison
published these statements knowing that they are false.
Keiona Harrison has committed libel, slander, and defamation
against Detective Hollo, ...

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